


Bad Moon Shining Bright

by agthoven



Category: Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Gen, Possession, Practical Magic AU, minor/background terra/oc
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:07:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,509
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27292423
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/agthoven/pseuds/agthoven
Summary: Don't come round tonight, well it's bound to take your life.  There's a bad moon on the rise.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 4





	Bad Moon Shining Bright

Sora looked up from the spell he was working on. He felt something from deep within, maybe a call for help. His master, aunt, teacher, current head of household, Aqua looked at him strangely.

“You have that look on your face. The one where you’re thinking about Roxas.” She was working on a spell for a client, one that required multiple components to be harvested at different times of the moon cycle. His other aunt, well they were both adopted aunts at this point, Crys walked into the room carrying a bowl of rosemary.

“Yeah, that’s his Roxas face. What’s wrong Sora?” she questioned, setting down the bowl on the kitchen island then fixing her long ponytail absentmindedly.

“I don’t know. I just feel something right here.” He pointed at his heart. “It almost felt like a call for help.” He felt it again, this time stronger and he could almost hear his twin this time, calling out his name.

Sora raced to the phone right before it started ringing, knowing exactly who was on the line. “Roxas, what’s wrong? Where are you?” Sora questioned hurriedly after picking up the receiver. Aqua and Crys were behind him, trying to overhear.

“Sora. I need you to come get me. I’m in over my head here. And something bad is coming, I feel it on the moon.” Roxas sounded exhausted, like he was trying to fight something off inside.

“Where are you Roxas? I’ll be right there.” Sora heard Aqua and Crys whispering behind him. Yeah, if Roxas was getting bad vibes from the moon, you knew it was bad. His magic was more tied to the sun, to its warmth.

“I’m in Arizona, the Dual Raven Hotel outside Phoenix. Please hurry. I can only hold them off for so long.” The call disconnected. Crys was already on a phone trying to find tickets for him to get out to Arizona as fast as possible. She knew he was hopeless with cell phones. He immediately ran upstairs to grab his go bag, Aqua following behind him.

“Full moon is in two days. Wherever he is, he needs to be away from there.”

Sora hurriedly threw together a change of clothes for himself and something that would probably fit Roxas, not that he had seen him in three years and knew his size. He grabbed his wallet and his lucky crown pendant, his focus for casting. “I know Aqua. Even people around town know that a bad moon is rising soon. They don’t know what it is, but something is coming.”

Aqua grabbed his arm as he was about to leave the room. “Sora. Just remember, whoever Roxas is running away from, they’ll want you too. You both come back to us safe and sound.”

Sora nodded and then ran down the stairs with his bag. Crys just got off the phone from booking a flight.

“Next flight leaves in an hour, which puts you there in Arizona close to midnight. It’s the fastest I could get you there. I’ll drive you to the airport.” Crys immediately grabbed the keys, not leaving any chance for Sora to say he was driving on his own.

Once they were in the car, the gummi ship as Sora nicknamed it not long after he and Roxas came to live with Aqua and Crys, Crys spun rocks out of the driveway as she raced them to the airport.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was a dream, Sora could tell. It was the night that Roxas snuck out of Aqua and Crys’s house. Their bedroom was on the second floor, almost overlooking the garden path that led to the front yard. The two were standing on the balcony that was outside of their room.

“Sora, I can’t stay here anymore. There’s too many secrets. Why do they keep leaving for weeks at a time? I love Aqua and Crys like they were blood, but there’s something they aren’t telling us. I’m going to try to find another teacher that can help with my light magic.” Roxas dropped his backpack over the edge of the balcony to where his friend Lea was waiting to drive them away.

Sora wanted to grab Roxas’s hand, to keep him from leaving. But unfortunately that’s not what happened that day.

“Before you leave, I learned a new spell, one that will let us know if the other is in danger. It’ll give us a connection.”

“Give us an actual freaky twin thing like everyone thinks we have,” Roxas chuckled. “Yeah sure. How do we do this?”

Sora reached into his pocket and grabbed a knife that he was planning on using to harvest more herbs with that night. “We just connect our blood.” Sora sliced open his palm and grabbed Roxas’s hand and did the same to his. “Your blood, my blood,” Sora held onto Roxas’s hand, connecting their two wounds, “our blood.” Their hands flashed white as the spell took effect.

Roxas gave him a smile. “Don’t get into trouble while I’m gone.”

“How can I when you’re taking all the trouble with you?” Roxas then hopped over the edge of the balcony to the ground, taking off with Lea. Sora wouldn’t see or hear from his twin again for three more years.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Finding the Dual Ravens hotel was hard to do at two in the morning. By the time he landed, Sora opened his phone to see a message from Crys letting him know where to have a taxi take him. But trying to get a taxi at almost 1 in the morning was hard. By the time that they pulled up to the hotel around 2 in the morning, Sora was about ready to pull his hair out due to anxiety.

The hotel itself wasn’t a fancy one. In fact, it was more like the ones that you paid by the hour for. But the person at the desk didn’t ask any questions about trying to get to Roxas’s room.

Sora knocked on the door twice before unlocking it. He still couldn’t get in once the door was unlocked. The door managed to swing open at least and he could see inside. The room itself was a mess, blankets strewn everywhere, possibly mold on the ceiling. And there in a corner curled up was his brother, his twin.

“Roxas, let down the ward so I can come in.” Roxas blearily looked at him before placing his hand on the wall, removing the faint shimmer of light that surrounded the room.

“You look horrible Roxas,” Sora said as he quietly crept inside, shutting the door behind him.

Roxas stared at him blearily. “If you knew what I’d been through, you wouldn’t say shit. Now help me up.” Sora offered Roxas a hand and got him up to his feet. Roxas looked unsteady, but now Sora could get a better look at him. He looked thinner, dark circles under his eyes, and were his ears starting to point. No, that was his eyes playing tricks on him. His ears were normal.

“Come on, let’s get you out of here. The taxi is still outside and we can get flights back home.” He put an arm around Roxas and helped him limp out of the room. Somehow they managed to get back to the airport without any questions. The next flight wasn’t until 7 am, so the two had time to kill.

Sora made Roxas change into different clothes and they managed to get him as washed down as they could in an airport bathroom in the middle of the night. When they finally got on the plane, Roxas was asleep before they even took off.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“It sure hasn’t changed, has it?” Roxas asked as they pulled up to the house they grew up in. “I can still picture it now,” he grumbled, “the first time we came to live here. We were only eight, and somehow we managed to get masters that would teach us about magic. Crys promised us chocolate cake for breakfast and Aqua would instead try to get us to eat oatmeal.”

“Yeah and one time they found us in the middle of the night gorging ourselves on ice cream. I thought we were gonna be in big trouble, but instead Crys just got more bowls while Aqua grabbed chocolate syrup and whipped cream.”

“I’m not sure if I can go back, Sora.” Roxas stood at the edge of the gate, almost ready to pass into the wards. “It’s been three years, and I never said goodbye.”

Sora placed a hand on Roxas’s shoulder. “Roxas, sure it’s been three years, but it’s still home. Aqua and Crys have missed you even more than what you think. Please, come inside.” Roxas then stepped through the gate, breathing a faint sigh of relief when he was accepted back in. That’s when he saw Crys and Aqua on the porch, waiting for them.

Crys immediately started running for them, folding Roxas into a hug. “You never called, you never wrote. You worried us sick at times.” She released him from the hug and looked at him up and down. “Now look at you, skin and bones. You look like you need some of my homemade chocolate cake.”

“Chocolate cake for breakfast?” asked Roxas.

“Chocolate cake for breakfast,” answered Crys. “We even have your favorite, sea salt ice cream to add to it.” Sora followed Crys and Roxas up the path. Aqua gave Roxas a quick hug, which Sora noticed Roxas tense during. Well, it had been three years since he saw them.

Aqua and Crys lead Roxas into the kitchen, the place where most lessons were learned in their childhood. On the ceiling there was still a scorch mark from where Roxas accidentally sent his flame up a little too high when lighting a candle. Four of the tiles in the backsplash were cracked from when Sora was trying to learn some air magic from Ven when he was in town.

Roxas rubbed his hand on the new canister set that held the catnip for their cat Chirithy. The old one broke when one of Sora’s spells accidentally went haywire because he forgot the moon was waxing instead of waning one sleepless night.

“It almost feels like I never left,” whispered Roxas. His eyes were still taking in the room, like he was seeing it with fresh eyes.

“You don’t change what doesn’t need fixing. And the marks you two boys left here add a little more character to the place. I still think there’s chocolate cake batter stuck to the ceiling fan,” added Crys as she got the cake out of storage.

Both Roxas and Sora looked indignant. “That wasn’t us,” they both shouted at the same time.

Aqua smiled and gathered the bowls. “Don’t let her fool you,” she whispered. “It was her on the night of her 21st. She just likes to try and blame it on everyone else.”

“That wasn’t my fault,” rebutted Crys, bringing the cake to the large table in the breakfast nook. “And I cleaned up that mess. This is a different one.”

“So you like to try to say,” responded Aqua, dishing out large pieces of the special cake. “But then again, how does it end up in the same exact pattern on the same exact blade.”

Crys went red and stuffed a piece of cake in her mouth. Roxas smiled before taking a bite of his own cake. “Just like I remembered,” he moaned.

Once they were finished, the three of them insisted that Roxas get some sleep, but he refused to do so. Instead Roxas followed Sora around the garden, watching as he tended the large garden that they used for materials for spells, or for the business that Sora was starting where he would sell some of their herbs to one of the local businesses that they would then use for making soaps, shampoos, and other items.

There would be times when Sora would look up to tease Roxas about some childhood memory when he thought his roots looked lighter than the rest of his hair. Like he was starting to go gray already. He knew that they didn’t look exactly alike, but Sora wasn’t near the gray stage himself, being only in his mid 20s, so it was a little weird to see his twin looking older than him.

Finally, Sora put down his trowel. “Roxas, you know you can talk about what happened. I mean where’s Lea? He left with you that day.”

Roxas looked to close himself off. “I don’t want to talk about it, Sora. And I haven’t seen Lea in a year. He just took off one day. Left me behind. So no, I don’t want to talk about it.” He then got up. “I’m feeling tired now. I’m going to go lay down.”

Sora nodded, wanting to say more, but obviously Roxas wasn’t ready. “Aqua said she would have a room ready for you. It’s across the hall from our old room.”

Roxas nodded in acknowledgment and left Sora alone in the dirt.

Dinner was quiet that evening. Roxas said he was too tired so Crys left a bowl of tortellini soup in his room for him to eat when he was ready.

The sound of spoons clinking on the bowls was finally silenced by Crys. “I don’t like this. We all agreed that something happened, right?”

“All he says is that he didn’t want to talk about it. I asked about Lea and Roxas said that he took off a year ago. Those two were best friends, it’s hard to imagine Lea leaving Roxas.” Sora stared at his soup, hoping that the broth and noodles would offer him some advice. Instead all they offered him was a full stomach.

They quietly cleaned up after dinner, with Sora and Aqua taking over cleaning duties while Crys went to check on the garden. It was the full moon the next night and that normally meant a busy time trying to harvest everything they would need for the month.

Sora finally went upstairs to check on Roxas and found him asleep on the bed, soup still uneaten. The light of the moon made it bright in the room and as Sora went to grab the bowl he looked in the mirror and saw something that chilled his bones. He realized that the strands of gray, almost silver, that had started in Roxas’s hair had almost overtaken his blonde.

That was when Roxas opened his eyes. Instead of blue, they looked almost yellow.

“What have you done to my brother,” whispered Sora, staring at his brother’s reflection.

“Sora, don’t you know me? I am your brother.” His brother’s figure started to get up off the bed. “I am a stronger version of him. But I am still him.”

Sora whipped around and cast a binding spell on Roxas. The figure shrugged it off like it was nothing.

“Poor little Sora, staying here under Crys and Aqua’s shadow. Never growing up into his full potential. Haven’t you wanted to see the world Sora? To learn what your magical specialty is? I know a man that can show you all that you need to become powerful.” The two circled each other, neither taking the eyes off of the other.

“I know you’re not Roxas. He would never say that. So if that means you’re not my brother, then you don’t know what I can do, do you?” The figure tilted Roxas’s head, like he was considering an ant under his boot before Sora cast a wind spell that knocked the figure backwards, hitting his head against the desk and mirror, knocking him out.

Aqua and Crys ran into the room, trying to figure out what the noise was. “What happened?” questioned Aqua as Crys came further into the room, avoiding bits of glass.

“I came in to check on Roxas and his hair was fully silver and he had yellow eyes. Then he said something about being a stronger version of Roxas. I don’t know what’s happening, but that’s not him.”

“Silver hair, yellow eyes,” murmured Crys. She looked over at Aqua. “Do you think?”

“It has to be,” Aqua answered. “Xehanort.”

“Uh, who’s Xehanort?” asked Sora. Crys and Aqua looked at each other.

“Answers later. Right now I’d rather not have Roxas walking around on his own when he wakes up,” said Aqua.

“He shrugged off the binding spell I first cast on him. It’s gonna take a few of us.” Aqua and Crys nodded. The three cast the binding spell on him and carried the immobile body down the stairs to a chair in the living room. Then Crys went and grabbed rope and tied him around his arms and legs as another precaution to keep him from getting away.

The light of the almost full moon shone down on them as they went into the kitchen, Aqua grabbing the ingredients for hot chocolate, and Crys grabbing a bottle of Fireball. Once they were all settled, Crys looked at Sora.

“You deserve some answers from us. We’ve always been quiet on different sections of our past, and sometimes one of us would go away for a few weeks saying it was for a business trip.”  
Sora nodded, willing her to continue. Crys took a shot of the Fireball before continuing. “There weren’t three of us when Aqua, Ven, and myself learned to use magic. There were two others. Ven had, I mean has, a twin. His name was, no is, Vanitas. Vanitas was an asshole, but his spell work was so strong. It almost felt like he had to prove himself even if he didn’t have to. And there was one more.”

Aqua continued, as Crys started crying. Sora had seen Crys cry maybe three times in the fifteen years that he’s lived here. “There was one more that trained with us. His name was Terra. He was the one that built most of the garden around the house. It was his responsibility. Cared for it like it was his own child at times. And he and Crys were close. Really close. ”

Suddenly things that he and Roxas found around the house as a kid that no one would answer finally made sense. The sword and armor they found in a chest. A picture of Crys and a brown haired man that was tucked in Crys’s side table drawer next to her bed.

“There was a man, Xehanort, that was friends with our teacher. Crys always had a bad feeling about him, but he never did anything to give us any hints. Until one day, he took off with Vanitas and Terra. There was no note, nothing that would give any hints as to why this happened. Our teacher went after Xehanort trying to figure out what was happening, and never came back.”

Crys wiped her eyes and tried to continue the story. “Everytime we went out, we would hear news of strong magic users being taken from covens. Sometimes they had more notice of it. But there was always one thing that they all had in common. Silver gray hair and yellow eyes.”

“Just like Roxas.”

“Just like Roxas,” said Aqua. “There’s only been one person that’s managed to break out of Xehanort’s hold. Ven has the contact info for him. We’re going to need help to get Roxas out of this mess.” Aqua drained her hot chocolate and got up. “Sora, I don't know how it’s going to happen, but it has to be done tomorrow night. We’re going to need everything at full strength. And they’re probably going to try to come after him. I’m gonna put you in charge of strengthening the wards, setting traps, anything to keep people we don’t want from getting in here.”

Sora agreed. The trio got to work with Sora strengthening wards, Aqua on the phone contacting those that could help, and Crys gathered materials she thought they could use. They slept in shifts, having one person keep an eye on Roxas. They weren’t taking a chance on anything happening.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was another dream. This time it was when they were nine and had just learned about true love spells. Sora had woken Roxas up and wanted to try it. Roxas tried to go back to sleep, but Sora wouldn’t let him. So that was how they ended up in the small indoor greenhouse at midnight, both in their pajamas.

Sora picked each flower, assigning a different trait to each. “He’ll be quiet, not wanting to be the center of attention. His favorite animal, a bat. And her favorite animal will be a panda, their favorite shape, a star.”

“Why are you casting it for a boy and a girl? I thought you were only supposed to choose one.” Roxas was still annoyed, sitting on the stool in the center of the greenhouse.

“Because how could I choose Roxas? Auntie Crys and Auntie Aqua said only that the spell existed, not that they worked.” Sora grabbed the last flower and put it in his basket.

Roxas slid off of the stool. “If they showed up Sora, you would be so oblivious that you wouldn’t even know they were your true love.”

“Well now I have a double chance of them existing and me noticing them. And if they don’t exist, well then we know the spell doesn’t work.”

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sora woke up with a start and glanced at the clock. It was an hour past when he was supposed to start his shift to watch Roxas. He changed clothes into something more comfortable and washed his face. His face showed signs of exhaustion, one that four hours of sleep didn’t seem to help. After all this time, the true love spell didn’t work. Sora wasn’t surprised, but it did still hurt. But today wasn’t the day to think about it. It was the full moon tonight, and they needed to work fast.

He ran down to the kitchen and made some toast, munching on it as he stepped in the living room to relieve Crys. He saw Roxas’s mouth moving, but no sound came out of it.

“He wouldn’t shut up. Thought it was better to silence him than for him to end up with a black eye,” said Crys, answering the question that she knew Sora was going to ask. “Aqua got ahold of Ventus and he has some people coming around 2. I can watch Roxas for longer, you go double check the wards.”

Sora left and checked the wards, pouring in a little more energy into them to make sure they wouldn’t fall tonight. Then it was cleaning and organizing with Aqua. They removed breakable objects from the living room along with the rug. Soon the only furniture in there was the chair that Roxas was sitting on. Crys chose to not have a chair for herself, and instead sat on the floor.

The solemnity that had filled the house was broken by the car horn that honked at the edge of the wards. Aqua went outside to let them in as they had strangers that were coming that needed to let in. Soon enough there were voices coming from the kitchen. Sora walked inside and saw Ven with three people that he didn’t know.

“...then Naminé here decided that we needed to stop for chocolate and then Kairi wanted coffee, and Riku was asleep, so he couldn’t reign in the discussion, so that’s how we ended up not getting here at 1 like we had originally planned.”

“Hey Ven,” called Sora, not sure if he was interrupting the story.

“Oh Sora, these are the ones I brought in. We have Naminé,” Ven pointed to a blonde girl wearing a white sundress with a blue jean jacket, “Kairi,” he pointed to a red haired girl wearing a plaid pink dress that had a hood with panda ears on it, “and Riku,” and he pointed to a boy with silver hair wearing a pair of blue cargo pants, a light blue shirt, and a leather jacket. Riku was attempting to hide in the corner, not wanting to be the center of attention.

“Thanks for coming. I have a feeling we’re going to need all the help we can get. He’s in the living room.” They all went into the living room. Crys was still on the floor staring at Roxas who continually tried to shout out things but couldn’t due to the silencing spell.

Riku went up to examine him. “Yeah, this is Xehanort’s doing all right. When did you guys find him again?”

“He called Sora the night before last from Arizona,” answered Crys, not taking her eyes off of Roxas still.

“Yeah, two nights ago I got a feeling from him that something was wrong and then he called asking for help. He said he got in over his head and that he needed help.” Sora put his arm behind his head, trying to think. “When I got there, he had a ward up looking like he was trying to keep people out. I couldn’t get in until he removed it.”

“I’m glad you found him in time and that he was able to call for help. Tonight’s going to be the night that can either make or break him. We either succeed and get him back, or we fail.”

“How do you know what to do?” asked Sora.

“Because he was almost in the same shoes as Roxas,” answered Naminé. “They were trying to get me, but Riku managed to break free and get me out of there. We managed to find Ventus a year later and have been staying with him ever since.”

“I told you to call me Ven, Naminé,” Ven pretended to complain, trying to lighten the mood.

“I still had help. Someone had the right components on hand and was able to cast the proper ritual on me.” Naminé blushed.

“We’ve been working on the ritual since then,” added Kairi. “We’ve been on the lookout for people that need help. My specialty has been light magic, and combined with Naminé’s memory magic, and Riku’s dream magic, we think we’ve gotten it.”

“We have most of the necessary herbs needed for the spell tonight. But there were some things that Ventus said that you would have.” Naminé then went out of the house to go grab the rest of the spell components.

Ven sighed. “If I let her have her way, she would have packed up everything we had on hand, even if I knew you had it.” Ven then dragged Crys and Aqua into the kitchen to give Crys a break, saying the younger ones could keep an eye on Roxas and prepare for that night.

Riku took a piece of chalk out of his pocket and started sketching the circle on the floor around Roxas. “I know some people use physical objects, like brooms, but I like chalk myself. Less for Kairi to trip over.”

There was an answer of “hey” from across the room where Kairi was arranging the candles they had brought. The scent of cedar and white sage wafted through the room. “Don’t forget to add the star Riku.”

“I won’t,” replied Riku. He carefully drew the circle and got out a piece of string to start drawing the star to add inside the circle. “Think you could hold this down for me?” he asked Sora. Sora grabbed one end and held it down so Riku could use it to mark the equidistant points he needed. At Sora’s questioning glance, he added “I found having something I’m connected to helps with concentration. We can then have five people on point with the sixth and seventh person there on hand to help.”

“It’s his favorite shape,” teased Kairi.

“It’s yours as well,” Riku shot back, blushing.

“Don’t mind them,” Naminé said, bringing in the last load of herbs and oils into the room. “They can be a handful.”

“It’s okay. You haven’t seen Crys and Aqua once they really get going trying to embarrass the other. If you need to experience it, ask about the chocolate stain on the ceiling fan in the kitchen.”

It was three hours later when the silencing spell fell and they began to hear shouts about darkness. Crys sighed. “At least we had some quiet for a while.”

They went into the other room and saw Roxas’s head thrashing around, like he was going to try to use his teeth to break free of the ropes. Of course it still wouldn’t have helped due to the binding spell.

Riku stepped forwards, getting in Roxas’s line of sight. “To the Roxas that I know is in there. Keep fighting him. We have a plan. And Xehanort, be prepared to get evicted. You weren’t welcome in my body, and you aren’t welcome in his.” Roxas’s head snapped forward, like he was going to attempt to bite Riku’s face.

“You were just a reject Riku. You didn’t break free, I let you go.” Roxas’s head went back, trying to maintain a calm projection after failing to bite Riku. “You didn’t have what it takes to work with me. Now this boy offered himself up, and there was no coven protecting him.”

“You’re wrong,” said Sora quietly. “He has us. Roxas, I know you’re in there. We’ll have you free in no time.” Crys cast another silencing spell on him, leaving Naminé to watch over him while they finished up their preparations.

It was after dark when they noticed the hooded figures standing outside of the wards. There were eleven of them, just waiting.

“We need to get started, right now. The wards are only going to last so long with that many,” said Ven. Everyone went back into the living room, rejoining Naminé who was already standing in her spot, knowing where she needed to be. The scent of cedar, white sage, and now palo santo wafted through the air.

“Sora, I want you next to Naminé, with Kairi on her other side. Crys, I want you and Ven to be outside the circle, in case things go wrong. Aqua, stand next to Kairi and I’ll stand between you and Sora.” They all got in their appointed places. “Now Crys, drop the silencing spell.”

Crys did so. Roxas grinned at them. “A blessing ritual, how thoughtful. Come to welcome me into the family, the coven. It’s no matter, soon I’ll be returned to my brethren. I already know they are out there to greet me.”

The seven chose to ignore him, instead chanting along with the spell that Riku had taught them earlier. The more they chanted, the more Roxas screamed, his body almost rising from the chair like something was trying to get out but was holding on with all of its might.

Finally, Riku stopped them. “He’s still holding on. He’s been weakened, so I don’t think he can do too much in the circle.”

Sora jumped next to Roxas then, removing the ropes and then cradled him in his lap. Roxas’s eyes blinked open and they kept flashing between blue and gold. “Sora, you dumbass,” Roxas said weakly. “You should have just left me there. He’s going to want you too. And he can’t get you.”

Sora took a deep breath. “You’re my brother Roxas. Of course I’m gonna be there for you. We’re connected, remember. Our ‘not freaky twin thing’? You’re my brother, and we’re gonna get this geezer out of you.”

Roxas laughed weakly. “I don’t know how much more I can take Sora. He’s too strong. It feels like he’s trying to rip my soul out as he is forced to leave.”

“You’re not allowed to leave me Roxas. Not after disappearing from my life for three years. Not after everything we’ve been through. I need my twin. Who else is gonna criticize my spells or remind me what phase of the moon we’re in. I almost destroyed the kitchen when you were gone. You’re not allowed to miss out on any moments like that anymore. I just got you back and you’re not leaving.” Sora was in tears, holding his twin in his lap.

Roxas lifted up a hand to Sora’s face. “I don’t want to, but I think I’ll have to. You’ll have to find someone else to have ice cream with.” Roxas’s eyes shut and he seemed to fall asleep. Sora laid Roxas’s body on the floor and left the circle.

Sora stood next to Crys, who was watching the hooded figures outside. “Any changes?”

“None. They haven’t even attacked the wards. It’s like they’re assured that Roxas is going to fully be on their side. Like they know they’re going to win.” She turned to Sora, her teal eyes burning in anger. “We’re not going to let them win. I’m not going to lose another person to him.”

An idea clicked in Sora’s brain. “We’re not gonna lose to him. I know what we need.” Sora ran into the kitchen for the same knife he used all those years ago.

Seeing Sora run into the living room with a knife, there was a certain alarm that went off among the others. “Guys get back to the circle, I got an idea.”

“Does it involve stabbing him?” asked Kairi.

“I’m not stabbing my twin...again. Well for a third time. But no. I performed this spell once three years ago. And I’m gonna do it again.” Sora held up his hand, showing off his scar.

Riku looked at the scar on Sora’s hand, and saw the exact same scar on Roxas’s hand. The gears turned in his head, like he was calculating to see if it would be possible “That can work. You’ll need to be in the circle then and you’ll need to make sure he’s awake. Ven or Crys, I need someone to cover Sora’s spot.”

Crys moved in to cover Sora’s spot while Sora made his way into the circle. Roxas was breathing, seemingly on the edges of sleep. Sora tapped on the floor with the handle of the knife, trying to wake him up. Roxas’s eyes were gold when they blinked open.

“Hey Xehanort, you know maybe you could teach me something that I don’t know. I mean, if you can’t even get out of my twin, that shows me how much power you have. So what do you say?”

Roxas pushed himself up. “Now you’re finally speaking sense Sora. Join me, and you will have unlimited power and knowledge.”

Sora then grabbed Roxas’s arm and landed on top of him, effectively wrestling him to the ground. “Then again, I like where I am. I have my friends, I have my family, and soon I’ll have my brother back.” Holding down a wriggling Roxas with his legs, he cut open the scar on Roxas’s palm. “Your blood.” He did the same to his own, “my blood.” Then he joined their hands together. “Our blood.”

Memories flashed around them. Playing on the beach with their parents. Moving into Aqua and Crys’s house. Reading fantasy novels in the spare bedroom that no one used. Pretending to be knights when raking leaves on the ground. The first time they both conjured fire. The love spell. Roxas laughing at Sora when he did something embarrassing in front of a cute girl. The night Roxas left. All these memories scattered around them. Then, a hand in the dark. Sora clasped it and dragged the person forward. Then he opened his eyes that he didn’t know he had closed. Sora saw the silver drain out of Roxas’s hair, returning the messy locks back to blonde. Roxas opened his eyes, and they were the same blue that he had seen all of this life.

“Roxas?” Sora asked, moving off of his brother.

“Yeah, it’s me. You found me Sora.” And Roxas dove in for a hug. He just kept repeating over and over again “you found me” and “I’m home”.

Sora eventually helped him to his feet when they heard a howl of anger coming from outside the wards. “Seems they know what happened,” said Ven. “Crys, Aqua, care to join me in clearing out the trash?”

“Our pleasure,” answered Aqua. They could already hear the rumbling of an oncoming storm that was signaled by Crys’s powers.

Naminé, Riku, Kairi, Sora, and Roxas followed Crys, Ven, and Aqua outside. The wind was howling, rain was falling, and thunder and lightning were rumbling and crackling across the night sky. The younger ones had never seen their teachers’ powers explode like this.

“You failed here tonight Xehanort. We have Roxas and you will never get him again. These people are under our protection. You have no right to steal them away from their coven. Now leave this place or we will make you,” said Aqua, her blue hair flying around.

The hooded figures turned to each other and all but three of them disappeared. The three that were left behind lowered their hoods. Sora guessed that they were the actual Xehanort, Terra, and Vanitas.

“You may have reclaimed one of ours, but don’t forget. I still have two of your coven right here. Good luck using that little ritual of yours to get them back.” Xehanort turned around leaving Terra and Vanitas standing there outside the wards. The two stood on the grass for a minute, before turning to follow Xehanort. Once they were gone, the storm calmed down and the full moon was shining again in the night sky.

Everyone was seated around the table in the breakfast nook in the kitchen, each with mugs of hot chocolate in front of them. Sora was seated next to Roxas, not wanting to be out of arm’s reach.

“It was dark, just dark inside there. It was like I was swimming in a pool of thick, black ink. I could feel my connection to Sora, a thread of light, but it kept shooting out of my grasp. When you renewed the spell, it was like a bright white light wiping away all of the darkness and I could see your hand, ready to pull me out.” Roxas took a sip of his hot chocolate. “You’re still in there the entire time. I don’t know what happened fully with Terra and Vanitas, but if they were like me, then they’re still in there trying to fight him off.”

“Think this time we can all go together? No more trying to do this on your own?” asked Sora to Ven, Crys, and Aqua.

“Yeah, no more attempting this on our own. Between what Roxas and Riku remember, we have enough to go after them. To bring them home,” said Crys. She raised her mug in a toast. “To Sora and Roxas, for reminding us that the impossible is possible.”

“To Sora and Roxas,” everyone echoed.

This was one battle against Xehanort, but the war was far from over.

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for sdavid09's Tale Teller's Fright Night Challenge. As soon as I saw the prompts, I knew I had to choose Practical Magic and Bad Moon Rising by Credence Clearwater Revival, but it took me awhile to figure out what story to write. Then this plot bunny popped in my head and wouldn't leave me alone. I hope everyone had as much fun with it as I did.


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